editor's review

download

specifications

changelog

CoolTerm is a simple but powerful Mac app that has been developed in REALBasic and provides a well organized user interface for transferring data to and from various hardware devices connected to serial ports.

User friendly serial port terminal that allows you to connect to various hardware devices

To start using the CoolTerm app you must first navigate to the Connection Options window and make the necessary adjustments for the Serial Port, Terminal, Transmission and Receive options. This way you get to specify the serial port you ant to employ for the communication.

If the connection process is successful, the next step is to type the commands you want to send to the hardware device in the app’s main window. The same area will display the received data by using the hexadecimal format. Note that you have the option to log all the communication details.

Effortlessly personalize the way in which you visualize the data

CoolTerm allows you to see the transmissions between your Mac and the hardware device in HEX or in ASCII mode: the first is recommended to see messages that cannot be expressed using plain text.

For your convenience, CoolTerm comes with an Autoscroll function that, when enabled, will automatically scroll to the bottom of the window in order to display the latest received data. In addition, in the bottom right area of the main window you can see the status of different serial port signals via small LED buttons.

CoolTerm is a great tool to have around if you need to control hardware devices, such as robotic kits, micro controllers, servo controllers, and so on. The application can connect to various ports, enables you to send text commands, and then displays the data received from the hardware device in HEX or ASCII mode.

Added new option to handle Form Feed (FF, ASCII code 12) characters. When enabled, the reception of a FF character will clear the receive buffer and thus clear the screen.

Added new option to handle End Of Text (EOT, ASCII code 4) characters. Enabling this feature will prevent the display from updating until a EOT character is received, at which time the display is updated with the contents from the receive buffer.

Added code to present the user with the option to select a serial port if a loaded settings file includes an empty string for the port name. This allows the creation of generic settings files.